Except for the United States, all developed nations provide their citizens with quality, affordable health care. Even with Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, and the Affordable Care Act, nearly 25 million Americans do not have health insurance. Millions that do can only afford high deductible plans, which may prevent them from accessing all but emergency care.

The U.S. is divided on political, fiscal, and religious grounds particularly in regard to the role of the social contract in governance. Conservatives believe that health care should be an individual responsibility with costs managed through the free market and little or no government. Liberals believe that assuring health care is a shared responsibility, though the government guarantees all have access. Because of this polarization, there has been limited effort to discuss health care from the perspective of our values and expectations as a society.

Access the event through Zoom: https://utah.zoom.us/j/98510800650

Password: 510017

Background Reading: The Case for Universal Health Care, chapter 11: The Ethical & Moral Case for Universal Health Care: Contact linda.carrlee@hsc.utah.edu for pdf.

Optional additional readings: Liberal and Conservative Representation of the Good Society: A (Social) Structural Topic Modeling Approach. Sterling, Joanna, Jost, John, and Hardin, Curtis. Sage Open Publications, April-June 2019, 1-13. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244019846211

When It Comes to Universal Health Care, What Would Jesus Do? December 19, 2019
https://universalhealthcarenow.com/when-it-comes-to-universal-health-care-what-would-jesus-do/

David Colton, Ph.D., M.P.A., M.Ed., is a retired health care administrator and retired adjunct professor of health care administration at Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, VA. Dr. Colton created the Checklist for Assessing Organizational Readiness to Reduce Seclusion and Restraint, which has been adopted by a number of organizations in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. His research interests, publications, and conference presentations have focused on quality improvement in health care.

This event is made possible with the support from Evening Ethics and Utah Humanities.

Disclosure: None of the faculty or planners or anyone in control of content for this continuing medical education activity have any relevant financial relationships since the content does not cover any products/services of a commercial interest; therefore, there are no relevant financial relationships to disclose. AMA Credit: The University of Utah School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s) TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. All attendees are encouraged to use the CME system to claim their attendance. Physicians will be awarded AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™; all other professions will be awarded attendance at a CME event credit that they may use for their re-credentialing purposes. All users will be able to print or save certificates. For questions regarding the CME system, please contact the UUCME Office. For questions regarding re-credentialing process or requirements, please contact your re-credentialing organization.

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